Improvement in the manufacture of bootees



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT H. SILVESTER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTEES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,273, dated January28, 1862.

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. SILvEsTER, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and ImprovedBootee for the Army and other Service; and I do hereby declare that thetollowing is a full and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings or diagrams, and the letters of referencemarked thereon, of Which- Figure l is a perspective view of a booteehaving my improvements applied thereto. Figs. 2 and 3 are diagramsrepresenting plans of cutting bootees in two pieces. Fig. lzshoWs bydotted lines the place of the seam in shoes of ordinary construction;but in my bootee this seaming is obviated by the mode of cutting, andthe only necessary seam to close the upper of my improved bootee is theshort one, from the sole to the instep, on one side only of the bootee.

` To enable others to cut and make my improved bootee, I will brieflydescribe the same.

The leather for the entire upper may be cut in one piece, asrepresentedin Figs. l and f1, and the seam made from A A to B B',together with the two short seams for securing the adj listing-straps,completes the uppers, when they are ready to be soled in the usual Way,the buckles being secured by rivets, purposely to facilitate the workand also cheapen the article when finished.

The leading objects of my invention are the production of a moreserviceable and durable bootee for army and other use with greaterfacility and at less cost than has heretofore been eifected; also, toprovide-such strong, convenient, adjustable fastenings for my improvedbootee as will require the least time and expense in their attachment tothe same, and at the same time be capable of the most expeditiousputting on and removal from the foot. These provisions for an army-shoeare of primeimportance-viz., cheapness of manufacture, greaterdurability, and its capability of ready adjustment to t-he ankle,whether the tops are adjusted over the pants or close around the ankle.By this latter provision this bootee serves with the saine advantagesot' the ordinary boot or shoe and gaiter, and the overlapping front withthe adjustable fastenings adapt this bootee to be worn with equalcomfort by persons whose feet vary several numbers in length, andthereby the usual difficulty in fitting a company or regiment ofsoldiers with ready-made shoes is almost entirely avoided. It is obviousthat the height of the leg or the gaiter portion of my bootee may bereadily varied.

I am aware that uppers of boots have been cut of one piece of leatherand inclosed by one continuous seam from the sole to the top of theboot-leg. I therefore do not claim such a mode of cutting boots, nor doI claim, simply, the inc-losing a bootee-upper with one, two, or threeseams; but

Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The bootee, constructed as above described, with the adjustablefastenings, and whereby all the above advantages are combined, as animproved new article of manufacture, for the purposes specified.

ALBERT I-I. SILVESTER.

Witnesses:

JOHN HAGEETY, N. B. SMITH.

